Framework summary

Name of the Framework
Livelihoods Connect

Brief description of the framework and tools within it
The Livelihoods Connect website has been developed to create sustainable livelihoods to eliminate poverty. The following UK Department for International Development (DFID) adopted definition of a Sustainable Livelihood:
" A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintains or enhances its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base."
(Adapted from Chambers, R. and G. Conway (1992) Sustainable rural livelihoods: Practical concepts for the 21st century. IDS Discussion Paper 296. Brighton: IDS.).

The Livelihoods Connect website includes:
• Lessons - lessons and experiences of the use of the sustainable livelihoods approach,
• Information - maximise relevance and minimise effort in helping access information on sustainable livelihoods.
• Guidance Sheets,
• Distance learning guide,
• Key documentation,
• Organisational links,
• Events and training,
• Sustainable livelihoods toolbox,
• Audio,
• Update - Email Update provides a monthly brief on developments in the area of sustainable livelihoods, including new resources from Livelihoods Connect,
• Enquiry - personal signposting service that points the user in the direction of specific information and contacts on sustainable livelihoods,
• Post-it - Sharing insights, experiences and views on the sustainable livelihoods approach,
• Policies, Institutions and Processes (PIPs) - This area gives an introduction to the concepts behind Policies, Institutions and Processes (PIPs) and the background to a selection of PIP papers,
• Hot Topics - highlight rapidly emerging areas of livelihoods policy and practice.

Together with areas providing general help and advice.

DFIDs Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) is based on six core concepts and objectives:
(i) People centred
The SLA places people at the nucleus of the approach. On a practical level the SLA:
• involves an analysis of people´s livelihoods and the changes over time;
• engages people fully and values their viewpoints;
• identifies the different policies and institutions that impact on people/households;
• identifies the importance of influencing the policies and organisations so that the agenda of the poor is promoted;
• acts to provide support for people to work towards their own livelihood goals.

(ii) Holistic
The holistic concept seeks to obtain an understanding of what influences peoples livelihoods, and to identify the influencing factors in order that they can be modified by the individuals themselves to create a more favourable livelihood outcome.

(iii) Dynamic
As livelihoods are constantly changing the SLA seeks to be dynamic by understanding and learning from change in order that it can support positive patterns of change and help prevent negative patterns of change.

(iv) Building on strengths
The SLA begins analysis with a review of strengths as opposed to needs, through looking at peoples inherent potential. It is intended that people will be helped to achieve their own objectives.

(v) Macro-micro links
The SLA seeks to fill the gap between the macro and micro level and encourage the lessons learnt at the local level to be incorporated into macro level policies.

(vi) Sustainability
´The notion of sustainability is key to this approach´
DFID (1999) Core concepts 1.3 Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets, http://www.livelihoods.org

Specific topic focussed on by framework
Peoples livelihoods. A livelihood comprises people, their capabilities and their means of living, including food, income and assets.

Web link
http://www.livelihoods.org/

How are the tools organised within the framework?
The Sustainable Livelihoods Toolbox can be found under the Information Resources headline. The toolbox contains 6 main types of tool:
a) Policy, Institutions and Processes - 5 tools,
b) Programme Identification and design - 6 tools,
c) Planning new projects - 4 tools,
d) Reviewing existing activities - 2 tools,
e) Monitoring and evaluation - 4 tools,
f) Ways of working - 3 tools.

Each of the tools helps in using sustainable livelihoods approaches at different stages of the project cycle.

For each tool background information is provided together with a guide to the tool where available and a link to the tool.

Sector/s covered by framework

Waste	Energy	Water	Transport	Green/Blue	Building & land use
0	0	0	0	0	M

What language/s is the framework available in?
English.
Some guidance information is available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Chinese. Plus leaflets available in Nepalese, Bengali and Dari.

What organisation developed the framework and in what country?
Department for International Development, UK Government.

Where is the framework available from?
http://www.livelihoods.org/

What are the strengths of the framework?
• The users of the SLA in Awel Aman Tawe, UK believe that the framework provision of support for the project team resulted in a comprehensive but positive shift in focus from a technical environmental product focused initiative to a broad-based community regeneration scheme. This helped shift the focus of the project from looking at end results to the process.
• Hinshelwood (2003) believes that the simplicity of the framework ?lends itself to adaption, to recreation, to an informal, flexible practical use?.

What are the weaknesses of the framework?
Criticisms include:
• for maximum benefit a number of tools from the toolbox and elsewhere need to be used to ensure the wider aspects of sustainability are included throughout the duration of a project.
• there is a lack of recognition of time as an asset and the absence of political capital within the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, which as the project develops, is increasingly important (http://www.livelihoods.org/lessons/case_studies/lesson-engy1.html).
• The structure of the homepage is confusing, it takes a while for the different components of the Livelihoods website to be identified.

What other interesting information is available about the framework?
Guidance notes and Distance Learning package produced by DFID are comprehensive and thorough, but do require a significant time to read. However, those actors who have used the tool recommend its implementation. The person who applied Sustainable Livelihoods in the PETUS case study: Awel Aman Tawe was an expert on the tool and was therefore able to adapt it significantly to the project which provided a significant advantage.